Comments on writing a practical report :
You will be expected to do all the experiments in this booklet. Each experiment should be written up in draft form (past perfect tense) on completion, and the draft checked by the teacher. Each experiment should be dated (date when you carried out the experiment). The final report should have the aim clearly stated, relevant background theory, equations (where appropriate), method, results, calculations (where appropriate), conclusion and comment/discussion/evaluation (where appropriate) - see skills assessed for the main focus of the experiment. Write down details of all sources of information used (e.g. books, magazines, internet, CD ROM, etc).
IB Biology Internal Assessment Lab Format
(Borrowed, with thanks, from Philip Plamootil, GSIS IB-Physics teacher)
The following titles and subtitles should be used for your lab report and given in this order within your lab report. Please compare this to your IA guide (the fat handout!) Where differences exist, please defer to the IA handout and tell me so I can correct this page! ~Thank you
Design
Question – must be focused and not ambiguous in any way Hypothesis – state first & then give a logical rationale – your conclusion should address the hypothesis you are giving here Variables – chart or list identifying Independent, Dependent, & Controlled Variables Protocol Diagram – draw & label a diagram which best shows the major protocol(s) you used. Often this will focus on the technique that was used to measure the dependent variable and/or the technique that was used to ‘setup’ different increments of the independent variable. Make sure to show how control group(s) differ from experimental group(s). This is also where I want you to emphasize the inclusion of a period of time for ‘equilibration’ of equipment, fluids, organisms, etc. The inclusion of time periods for equilibration should also be included in your written procedure. Photograph of Lab Setup – annotate this to show how variables were
instituted, especially the controlled variables. Do not just label equipment. Procedure – write in paragraph form, passive voice, and past tense
Data Collection and Processing
Raw Data Table – make sure this is raw data only. Data table design & clarity is important. A title should be given (Raw Data Table is not a data table title, it is a lab report section title) Make sure that all columns, etc. are properly headed & units are given. Forgetting one unit or misidentifying one unit is enough to drop your score in this section. Do not “split” a data table (putting part of a table on one page and finishing it on another). If you absolutely have to split a table (due to quantity of data), make sure that you re-do the title and all column headings. Uncertainties are mandatory and can be given within column headings for equipment precision and as footnotes beneath data tables for other types of uncertainties.
Data Processing Overview – this is a short paragraph section that gives an overview of how and why you decided to process and present the data in the form that shows up later in this section. Sample Calculation – neatly lay out and explain one example only of any type of manipulation that was done to the raw data to help make it more useful for interpretation.
Presentation – this is typically one or more data tables (of your now processed data) and one or more graphs of this processed data. Once again, the design & clarity of data table(s) is important and the quality of graphs is also very important. Give careful consideration to the choice of graph style(s) that you choose to do. Think about doing a scatter plot or perhaps a line graph showing error bars or any number of other creative graphing styles rather than just a simple line graph. Remember that demonstrating errors and uncertainties in your data is also mandatory for the processed data. Make sure that you follow good standard rules for doing graphs (valid title, axis’ labeled including units, etc.)
Note: Weak experimental design can sometimes limit you to pie graphs and/or bar graphs; avoid this by good experimental design in which you have a quantitative independent variable (with well chosen incremental values) as well as a quantitative dependent variable.
Conclusion & Evaluation
Conclusion - this is a paragraph section in which you get a chance to discuss the results of your experiment. Start by addressing whether your data seems to support or refute your hypothesis. This should be discussed and not just stated. Specifically refer to your graphs to give support to this discussion. Avoid the use of the word “proof”or “proves” within your conclusion, as your data will not prove anything.
Limitations of Experimental Design – this paragraph section discusses how well your experimental design helped answer your experimental question. What worked well (and why) and what did not work well (and why). This is also a section in which outlier points could be discussed (if there were any outlier points) as well as possible reasons for those outlier points. If you did any statistical tests, what did the results of that test show? If you have error bars on your graph(s) what do those show?
Suggestions for Improvement - In reference to the limitations given in the previous subsection, what realistic and useful improvements could be made if you were to do this investigation again?
You will be expected to do all the experiments in this booklet. Each experiment should be written up in draft form (past perfect tense) on completion, and the draft checked by the teacher. Each experiment should be dated (date when you carried out the experiment). The final report should have the aim clearly stated, relevant background theory, equations (where appropriate), method, results, calculations (where appropriate), conclusion and comment/discussion/evaluation (where appropriate) - see skills assessed for the main focus of the experiment. Write down details of all sources of information used (e.g. books, magazines, internet, CD ROM, etc).
IB Biology Internal Assessment Lab Format
(Borrowed, with thanks, from Philip Plamootil, GSIS IB-Physics teacher)The following titles and subtitles should be used for your lab report and given in this order within your lab report. Please compare this to your IA guide (the fat handout!) Where differences exist, please defer to the IA handout and tell me so I can correct this page! ~Thank you
Design
Question – must be focused and not ambiguous in any wayHypothesis – state first & then give a logical rationale – your conclusion should address the hypothesis you are giving here
Variables – chart or list identifying Independent, Dependent, & Controlled Variables
Protocol Diagram – draw & label a diagram which best shows the major protocol(s) you used. Often this will focus on the technique that was used to measure the dependent variable and/or the technique that was used to ‘setup’ different increments of the independent variable. Make sure to show how control group(s) differ from experimental group(s). This is also where I want you to emphasize the inclusion of a period of time for ‘equilibration’ of equipment, fluids, organisms, etc. The inclusion of time periods for equilibration should also be included in your written procedure.
Photograph of Lab Setup – annotate this to show how variables were
instituted, especially the controlled variables. Do not just label equipment.
Procedure – write in paragraph form, passive voice, and past tense
Data Collection and Processing
Raw Data Table – make sure this is raw data only. Data table design & clarity is important. A title should be given (Raw Data Table is not a data table title, it is a lab report section title) Make sure that all columns, etc. are properly headed & units are given. Forgetting one unit or misidentifying one unit is enough to drop your score in this section. Do not “split” a data table (putting part of a table on one page and finishing it on another). If you absolutely have to split a table (due to quantity of data), make sure that you re-do the title and all column headings. Uncertainties are mandatory and can be given within column headings for equipment precision and as footnotes beneath data tables for other types of uncertainties.Data Processing
Overview – this is a short paragraph section that gives an overview of how and why you decided to process and present the data in the form that shows up later in this section.
Sample Calculation – neatly lay out and explain one example only of any type of manipulation that was done to the raw data to help make it more useful for interpretation.
Presentation – this is typically one or more data tables (of your now processed data) and one or more graphs of this processed data. Once again, the design & clarity of data table(s) is important and the quality of graphs is also very important. Give careful consideration to the choice of graph style(s) that you choose to do. Think about doing a scatter plot or perhaps a line graph showing error bars or any number of other creative graphing styles rather than just a simple line graph. Remember that demonstrating errors and uncertainties in your data is also mandatory for the processed data. Make sure that you follow good standard rules for doing graphs (valid title, axis’ labeled including units, etc.)
Note: Weak experimental design can sometimes limit you to pie graphs and/or bar graphs; avoid this by good experimental design in which you have a quantitative independent variable (with well chosen incremental values) as well as a quantitative dependent variable.
Conclusion & Evaluation
Conclusion - this is a paragraph section in which you get a chance to discuss the results of your experiment. Start by addressing whether your data seems to support or refute your hypothesis. This should be discussed and not just stated. Specifically refer to your graphs to give support to this discussion. Avoid the use of the word “proof”or “proves” within your conclusion, as your data will not prove anything.Limitations of Experimental Design – this paragraph section discusses how well your experimental design helped answer your experimental question. What worked well (and why) and what did not work well (and why). This is also a section in which outlier points could be discussed (if there were any outlier points) as well as possible reasons for those outlier points. If you did any statistical tests, what did the results of that test show? If you have error bars on your graph(s) what do those show?
Suggestions for Improvement - In reference to the limitations given in the previous subsection, what realistic and useful improvements could be made if you were to do this investigation again?